Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Freedom of the Press
Author : Abdul Sajid
Abstract :
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was conferred the highest civilian award of Bharat Ratna on his centenary birthday on 14-4-1990 for his contribution as the man of architect of Indian Constitutional edifice and for his dedication throughout his life for the cause of social justice, liberty, equality and universal brotherhood. He stood for the freedom of the press which really meant the freedom of the people to know and Art 19(1)(a) conferring freedom of speech and expression also conferred the freedom of the press and as such no separate right is needed for the press. The press acted as a trustee in protecting the right of the people to know and therefore must possess the power to prevent including State and everyone to resist any interference with regard to the exercise of the freedom, on behalf of the right of the people to know. Another notable contribution of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar relates to imposing of restriction on the exercise of the freedom of the press to prevent the press acting irresponsibly or non-accountability and as an instrument of public service to safeguard the people’s right to get accurate and true information. He was responsible for dropping ‘sedition’ as a ground of restraint, so that people must have the right to criticism the Government. He strongly resisted the freedom of the press to be of ‘absolute’ in its nature, as absolute freedom would lead to anarchy by drawing the attention of other members of Constituent Assembly and even the USA Constitution has contained implicit restriction which are in principle no different from Art 19(2) of the Constitution of India. The people of Indian nation must live up to the aspirations of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to use the media for promoting, rule of law, social justice, liberty and essential constituent elements of freedom of the press. Press alone can rescue the Country from collapsing standards of public life, when the opposition collectively was not able to accomplish. The press freedom must be for the people, by the people and of the people. Then only democracy may prevail over the entire life of the nation.
Keywords :
Constitution, laws, equality
